The quadripartite violence typology: Further validation of the Angry Aggression Scale in a Dutch community sample

Objective: Bimodal operationalizations of aggression as either reactive/impulsive (“affective”) or proactive/premeditated (“instrumental”) insufficiently capture the heterogeneity of aggressive behavior. A more nuanced perspective was proposed in the quadripartite violence typology (QVT) which differentiates between four types of aggression based on associated emotional experiences and underlying motivations: impulsive/appetitive (Imp/Ap), impulsive/aversive (Imp/Av), controlled/appetitive (Con/Ap), and controlled/aversive (Con/Av). This study aimed to provide novel evidence for the internal structure and construct validity of the Dutch version of the Angry Aggression Scale (AAS) as a method of operationalizing the QVT. Method: A combined sample of Dutch community-dwelling participants was recruited through Prolific and a local university (N = 606, Mage = 27.3, SDage = 10.3, range = 18–73). The Dutch translation of the AAS was administered alongside self-report measures of aggression, anger, emotion regulation, impulsivity, maladaptive personality, and psychopathy. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses indicated good model fit and strict measurement invariance across sex for the AAS four-factor structure, capturing Imp/Ap, Imp/Av, Con/Ap, and Con/Av forms of aggression. The AAS had good internal consistency. Adequate construct and discriminant validity were evidenced by a pattern of concurrent, convergent, and divergent associations with external correlates, largely in line with preregistered expectations. Notably, the AAS showed incremental validity over other aggression measures for most correlates. Conclusions: Overall, these findings provide additional evidence for the QVT model and have important implications for theory refinement, clinical practice, and policy-making. This study advanced our understanding of aggression by moving beyond a reductionistic dichotomy between reactive and proactive aggression.